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Friday, 28 May 2010

Friday smiles

Blame it on the sunshine or that it's a Friday or that it's a denims day at work, but I'm in a really chipper mood today. So chipper that the guy who's armpit I practically had to stand in on the commute this morning still got a smile. So chipper that even the guy who effectively shoved me into said armpit and who's arm was around me so he could "hold onto the pole" (despite there being one much closer to him that wouldn't involve him hugging me for four stops) still got a smile. If you knew me or the London tube in peak well, you would be impressed.

Other things I'm thankful for and things that have made me laugh or smile or wonder in amazement and I've rambled on about them below. But I also want to know what's making you happy? Or frustrating you?

Long weekends
This week is one of them, and I'm heading to Berlin!! Berlin, peoples, has been on my must see places for a long long time. Maybe a little bit because of learning German at school (and forgetting German post school). Maybe a bit more because of the history of the place in recent times (last 50 - 70 years). And maybe because my friends and family that have been there have raved about it. We've got 2 1/2 days there and I hope to have lots to tell you next week.

Colleagues
For exchanges like this on our internal instant chat (which honestly is used for 95% work purposes)

Me: I wish they made smell cancelling headphones. X's food smells rank
Colleague: Maybe if you shoved yours up your nostrils, they would be?

You have to admit, he has a point. You also have to admit that eating really smelly food at the desk isn't really that cool.

Family
I just love them, that's all. Ok, I miss them too. And they make me laugh. The parentals have a farm. With cows. Pinsgauer cows. Pinsgauer show cows. And some of these beasts won some ribbons at the National Beef Expo last week (which is one of the 2 big shows, if you are into this sort of thing). And to hear my folks talk of them, you would think that one of their kids has found the cure for all cancers, or become Prime Minister or something. These babies mean the world to them and, whilst I find it funny, I do love hearing them so chuffed about things. This isn't one of this week's winners, but here is one of their other ones:

IT service desks
My computer was not playing nicely yesterday. It had had some sort of software upgrade the night before and excel was practically useless. So I rang IT. Like in any big company I assume, speaking to IT can be an adventure. After navigating the menus, I was put through to someone who explained (in broken English - our IT is very much offshore) that (after being on my computer remotely for about 45mins) he didn't know what was wrong and would escalate the call. When another guy called me back and proxied on and had a look (again for more than half an hour). And you know what he said (yes, in very very broken English)? "Your excel is not working properly". No, really? I mean, if I wanted to call for a chat, I would have phone a friend, not the IT desk in a remote third world country where English is a long way from a native language. It made me laugh. A lot. I still chuckle thinking about it. And the good news - the third person I spoke to was able to sort it out so now my excel runs like a dream.

Photography
And getting my pics published! I think we all know by now that I like taking pics. Lots of them. Of random stuff, of cool stuff and of pretty stuff. I think we also know by now that I'm a hack with a point and shoot who's doing it to indulge herself. Someone else has indulged me to (aside from you patient readers). A couple of my pics that are on Flickr have been included in the latest London edition of the Schmap app for ipohones. They contacted me a while ago to say they would like to use them and ask permission, should they make it through the final edit. Well, they did… The pics are of London things but I wouldn't have thought anything special. I think they've used them as they are of specific places they wanted pics for and there just aren't many around. They're using ones of Monmouth Cofee at Borough Markets and of the Peace Pagoda at Battersea Park (first link for each one will take you to their website, second link shows how it looks in the app).

Keeping it real though, it's not all peachy. There are things that frustrate me to. Such as:

Glasses shopping
I've had my eyes tested recently and I need some new glasses (and hopefully some prescription sunnies if the budget stretches far enough). Good news is my eyes aren't as bad as they were. Bad news is shopping for them is harrowing. To describe my indecision and frustration levels, I think it would be easier to have to buy bathers, bras and jeans all at once. And, if you are like me, those are the hardest purchases to make and require the biggest pep talk (I really do have to be in the mood for any of them). I don't know what I want, and after trying on so many pairs, I still don't know!